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Trump Paris exit is bad business decision, says REN21 after record 2016

US President Donald Trump’s decision to quit the Paris climate deal is a bad business decision for America, said global policy network REN21 after a record-breaking 2016 for renewables that saw them trounce other energy sources on costs.

Christine Lins, executive secretary of REN21, told Recharge the addition of a best-ever 161GW of renewable capacity last year, falling costs for wind and solar, and growing commitment from governments and corporations prove the global energy transition is well underway.

“We now have 176 countries around the world with renewable energy targets,” said Lins.

She said these trends are “in stark contrast to US president Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate change deal. One of the reasons his decision is so puzzling to everyone is that it’s counter intuitive when you think about business.

“We are seeing all around the world companies committing to 100% renewables, mainly because it makes economic sense,” said Lins.

“I think we are going to see more energy cooperation between Europe, India and China with the EU now able to re-establish its global leadership and step up its renewables efforts”.

The 2017 edition of the REN21 Renewables Global Status Report shows the world now has 2,017GW of renewables installed.

Wind accounted for 34% of the capacity added last year, solar 47% and hydropower 15.5%.

The additional 161GW capacity was added for 23% less investment than needed the previous year as equipment costs fell.

REN21 says renewables are becoming the least-cost option for power. Recent deals in Denmark, Egypt, India, Mexico, Peru and the United Arab Emirates saw renewables being delivered $0.05 per kWh or less – well below equivalent costs for fossil fuel and nuclear generating capacity in those countries, it said.

The policy network claims integrating large shares of variable renewables generation can be done without fossil fuel and nuclear baseload provided there is sufficient flexibility in the power system – through grid interconnections, sector coupling and enabling technologies such as ICT, storage systems, electric vehicles and heat pumps.

“We are trying to show that baseload is a concept from the past, and that the energy system of the future will be decentralised, flexible and completely different from the current one,” said Lins.

REN21 says innovations and breakthroughs in storage technology will increasingly provide additional flexibility to the power system. Last year around 0.8GW of new advanced energy storage capacity became operational, bringing the global year-end total to an estimated 6.4GW.

“The world is adding more renewable power capacity each year than it adds in new capacity from all fossil fuels combined,” said REN21 chair Arthouros Zervos.

However, the policy network warned that the energy transition is not happening fast enough in order to achieve the goals of the Paris climate change agreement.

REN21 said global subsidies for fossil fuels and nuclear power continue to dramatically exceed those for renewable technologies. By the end of 2016 more than 50 countries had committed to phasing out fossil fuel subsidies, and some reforms had occurred – but not enough.

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Trump Paris exit is bad business decision, says REN21 after record 2016

US President Donald Trump’s decision to quit the Paris climate deal is a bad business decision for America, said global policy network REN21 after a record-breaking 2016 for renewables that saw them trounce other energy sources on costs.

Christine Lins, executive secretary of REN21, told Recharge the addition of a best-ever 161GW of renewable capacity last year, falling costs for wind and solar, and growing commitment from governments and corporations prove the global energy transition is well underway.

“We now have 176 countries around the world with renewable energy targets,” said Lins.

She said these trends are “in stark contrast to US president Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate change deal. One of the reasons his decision is so puzzling to everyone is that it’s counter intuitive when you think about business.

“We are seeing all around the world companies committing to 100% renewables, mainly because it makes economic sense,” said Lins.

“I think we are going to see more energy cooperation between Europe, India and China with the EU now able to re-establish its global leadership and step up its renewables efforts”.

The 2017 edition of the REN21 Renewables Global Status Report shows the world now has 2,017GW of renewables installed.

Wind accounted for 34% of the capacity added last year, solar 47% and hydropower 15.5%.

The additional 161GW capacity was added for 23% less investment than needed the previous year as equipment costs fell.

REN21 says renewables are becoming the least-cost option for power. Recent deals in Denmark, Egypt, India, Mexico, Peru and the United Arab Emirates saw renewables being delivered $0.05 per kWh or less – well below equivalent costs for fossil fuel and nuclear generating capacity in those countries, it said.

The policy network claims integrating large shares of variable renewables generation can be done without fossil fuel and nuclear baseload provided there is sufficient flexibility in the power system – through grid interconnections, sector coupling and enabling technologies such as ICT, storage systems, electric vehicles and heat pumps.

“We are trying to show that baseload is a concept from the past, and that the energy system of the future will be decentralised, flexible and completely different from the current one,” said Lins.

REN21 says innovations and breakthroughs in storage technology will increasingly provide additional flexibility to the power system. Last year around 0.8GW of new advanced energy storage capacity became operational, bringing the global year-end total to an estimated 6.4GW.

“The world is adding more renewable power capacity each year than it adds in new capacity from all fossil fuels combined,” said REN21 chair Arthouros Zervos.

However, the policy network warned that the energy transition is not happening fast enough in order to achieve the goals of the Paris climate change agreement.

REN21 said global subsidies for fossil fuels and nuclear power continue to dramatically exceed those for renewable technologies. By the end of 2016 more than 50 countries had committed to phasing out fossil fuel subsidies, and some reforms had occurred – but not enough.